[LargeFormat] Tripods

[Jim]

At 01:03 PM 3/6/2002 +0000, Clive Warren wrote:

>I don't know what the excitement about the carbon fibre is.  I find them to
>have more bounce to them than the aluminum ones do.  Well, maybe not bounce,
>but more of a vibration - they are stiffer after all!  But at least they are
>lighter too!


I turns out that both wood and Carbon Fiber are better than metal for 
tripods. The stiffer and more rigid the metal the more resonant vibration 
frequencies it can support. Especially frequencies that focal plane 
shutters and mirrors create.

With LF cameras, there is not usually any movement other than the BTL 
shutter. But there are other things that cause frequency patterns in heavy 
metal tripods. People walking nearby. Wind. Cars and trucks nearby. Etc...

The professional film and video companies have switched over nearly 
completely to carbon fiber. Most of the tripod companies that make those 
big tripods, even those on dollies, have switched to CF. These companies 
have studied tripod stability for years and state, in their testing 
documents, that the best material for vibration free tripods is CF, 
followed by wood, and a distant last, metal.

Bottom line, metal amplifies vibration frequencies. Think of vibes, bells, 
chimes, etc. Wooden or CF vibes, bells, chimes, etc, would simply not work 
because these materials DAMPEN vibrations rather than letting them "ring."

Jim